CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN - Love in the Line of Fire

Clarissa's facade cracked, her true emotions bleeding through. "You don't understand. I've given everything to this company, and what did I get in return? Passed over, pushed aside. I deserved more, Cassius. I deserved to be recognized!" "And this is how you chose to get that recognition?" Cassius asked, his voice rising. "By aligning yourself with someone like Vincent? By trying to destroy what we've built?" "I was trying to save it!" Clarissa shouted, her composure fully breaking. "You and Mara, you're so caught up in your ideals that you can't see the bigger picture. Sometimes you have to make hard choices for the greater good!" Cassius stared at her, seeing for the first time the full extent of Clarissa's bitterness and resentment. It was like looking at a stranger wearing the face of someone he once cared for deeply. "The greater good?" he repeated, his voice quiet now. "No, Clarissa. This was about you. Your ambition, your ego, your inability to accept that sometimes, just so